January, 2020

• 7 January

  Kotak halts bid for shadow bank Altico

  

  Bloomberg The race to find a rescuer for a struggling Indian shadow bank at the center of an industry crisis has narrowed. Altico Capital India Ltd is one of the latest caught up in the nation’s shadow banking crisis that started in 2018, and had been courting suitors. One of them, Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd, won’t make a binding bid ...

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• 7 January

  S’pore sees ‘strong interest’ for digital banking license

  

  Bloomberg Singapore has received “strong interest” in its effort to open up the banking industry to fresh competition after 21 groups made bids for digital licenses, the financial regulator said. A “diverse group” lodged applications, including e-commerce, technology and tele communications companies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Tuesday, without identifying the parties. Seven were for digital full-bank ...

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• 7 January

  Inflation in China may hit 5% in Jan on oil spike: Citi

  Bloomberg China’s surging consumer inflation will rise further on the current oil spike, but the jump won’t last long and probably won’t affect the pace of monetary easing in 2020, according to Citigroup Inc. Consumer inflation in China will hit 5% in January as higher oil prices combined with a low base from 2019 drive up the cost of vehicle ...

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• 7 January

  HK dollar is best Asia carry trade on tight liquidity

  

  Bloomberg Asia’s best carry trade is suddenly in Hong Kong, where the local dollar has strengthened to an almost three-year high. Elevated local rates are increasing the appeal of owning the city’s currency, after years of depreciation wagers. Selling the greenback and using the proceeds to buy Hong Kong dollars has delivered Asia’s highest Sharpe ratio — a measure of ...

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• 7 January

  Tesla opens Chinese plant as era of real competition begins

  

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc kicked off production in China, marking a major step in Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s global push for electric-vehicle domination and heralding what could be the dawn of real competition in the world’s largest EV market. Musk presided over a ceremony on Tuesday at a new multibillion-dollar plant near Shanghai — its first outside the US — ...

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• 7 January

  Japanese prosecutors obtain arrest warrant against Carole Ghosn

  

  Bloomberg Japanese prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn, the wife of Carlos Ghosn, the latest move by the country to contain the fallout from the former auto executive’s daring escape from trial a week ago. Prosecutors issued a statement announcing the warrant on Tuesday. The action means Carole, who is now in Lebanon with Ghosn, could be ...

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• 7 January

  Duterte offers new deals to water providers

  

  Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is giving Manila water providers the option of accepting new contracts written by the government — or see the state take over in areas where they operate. Duterte decided to offer new agreements to Manila Water Co and Maynilad Water Services Inc after being presented with legal options on the water contracts at a Monday ...

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• 7 January

  China foreign exchange reserves rise on weak dollar

  Bloomberg The value of China’s foreign-currency holdings edged up in December due to valuation effects and a possible easing of capital outflows due to a stronger yuan. Reserves climbed to $3.1079 trillion from $3.0956 trillion in November,People’s Bank of China said. The reading is slightly lower than median estimate of $3.11 trillion in a Bloomberg survey. “Capital outflow pressures may ...

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• 7 January

  Samsung looks beyond AI with artificial humans

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co’s experimental research arm has brought to CES 2020 a demonstration of what it calls the world’s first artificial human, a virtual simulation of a human intelligence that learns, converses and sympathizes like a regular person. Each simulated human — which would exist only on screens, not in the real world — would be called NEON, and ...

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• 7 January

  HK landlords face tough year amid protests

  

  Bloomberg Landlords in Hong Kong, a city with some of the highest commercial rents in the world, are staring down the barrel of a tough year. Anti-government protests that started in mid-2019 have taken their toll on shop and office owners. Large-scale protests in popular shopping districts and a slump in tourists have made it increasingly difficult for retailers. According ...

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